Experiences of 2391-10

Spa Key · Jan 15, 2010

I'm in the final year of my 2330 but not working in the industry. I'm planning to finish off my 2330 then do the 2382. There is very little where I live in terms of electrical jobs - most require experience and/or 2391. I do bits & bobs (free of charge) every so often for a local sparky but I want to make it my full time job rather than working around my current job.

I was planning on doing the 2391-10 (Inspect, Test + Certification) to maximise my chances of getting into the industry. I've bought myself GN3 and am in the process of reading it cover to cover, and I'm working through the BRB as part of the 2330 course. I've done some testing, and at college I seem to be able to go through the sequence when others are still struggling with it - but the 2330 is a totally different kettle of fish to the 2391.

How difficult is the 2391? I've always managed the academic stuff easily enough, and I'm told the 2391 is more about the academic side than the practical. It'd be close to £600 of my own money, which is a LOT of money for me, and so I want to know as much as possible about it before jumping in and failing it.

I know a lot of experienced sparks fail it, but some who have very little testing experience & haven't done the full 2330 pass it. Could anyone give me a detailed insight into what's involved, both the course + the exam, and what experience you'd had before going through it?

Thanks.

acm2205 · Jan 16, 2010

The practical side of the exam is as you'd expect is showing you can correctly inspect and test and interpret the results. As for the theory side, it's probably one of the hardest exams i've ever sat (including my A-Levels) but is definately passable .

Spa Key · Jan 17, 2010

acm2205 said:
The practical side of the exam is as you'd expect is showing you can correctly inspect and test and interpret the results. As for the theory side, it's probably one of the hardest exams i've ever sat (including my A-Levels) but is definately passable .

Cheers. What was your background prior to doing the 2391? Experienced, never touched a tester/DB etc?

Thanks.

scotsparky · Jan 17, 2010

I found that for the theory jemember the basic formula, adiobatic,ohms,parellel resistances ect and how to transpose them, remember the 80% rule and all the differnet earthing yipes, bonding coductors disconnection times. The correct wording for test certificatin is essential
the other trick is get past papers and do them then ask someone who is qualified to go through them with you. The main trick is interpritation of the of the question if you can mannage that you have a good fighting chance.

As for the practical try and borrow a meter and PRACTICE get to know what settings to use. Download the iet test certs and get familiar with them and study page 3 on the periodic (tick sheet)

Use the forum there are a lot og guysw here that have done it and are willing to help.

acm2205 · Jan 19, 2010

Spa Key said:
Cheers. What was your background prior to doing the 2391? Experienced, never touched a tester/DB etc?

Thanks.

I had some experience from a course about 4 or 5 years prior but being a military electrician I hadn't done anything in between.

Spa Key · Jan 20, 2010

Thanks both of you for the feedback.

Will keep coming back, learning, and may (probably will) eventually take the plunge & go for it. Personally I feel I'm capable of passing, but as I said in the OP it's a lot of money.

Final questions: is the practical on a single phase or three phase DB?

Thanks again.

bramboy · Jan 20, 2010

Master the earth fault loop path on majority of test papers and you`ll have a good chunk of the pass mark. Also google previous test papers.

Good luck nothing to fear, info will sink in with practice without you realising it